Things are different here. Some people have a hard time using banks due to proximity problems and taxation. I doubt most Americans would use banks if the government monitored your deposits and automatically taxed you if you exceed a certain amount of deposits per month. In fact, I doubt most Americans would tolerate most of the government controls here like on traveler's checks, etc...

This time of year, some businesses accumulate a lot of cash selling certain goods only for December, like salted cod for the Christmas table, kid's toys for Christmas and 3 Kings Day, cases of liquor that have fallen out of container shipments in the port, etc...

Deposits are not the easiest thing to do in a lot of banks because of the insane lineups. Carrying that amount of cash is not that big a deal here or really something that is out of the ordinary. A lot of people prefer cash here, you get a better price on things. The government has put a limit on business cash purchases but for private use, cash is king.

What was out of the ordinary is that they elected to disregard some info, they didn't have a driver or even another male occupant in the vehicle. It is not usual to see that many women in a car without a male in the vehicle, unless they are nuns, and they don't drive very much.

People are paying attention to that norteno highway murder, but nobody paid any attention to the entire family that was shot and killed south of Veracruz, not far from Tuxtapec that happened just a short while after one rider on this forum passed through there.

Funny how some people react to one killing, but on another stretch of highway that is frequented fairly often by riders, nobody pays attention to the events.

Keep an ear to the ground throughout your trip, listen to the locals, make your risk assessment as Trice would say, and then plan your ride and ride your plan.

Simple as that.

That is what people do that live here, you should do the same.

When you come to Mexico you should ride like a local rider. You are expected to because you are on a motorcycle.
Enjoy it. You can't do that in the USA.

Will I avoid the Tierra Blanca/Tuxtepec area? Probably. But not because of some politically related murders, I really don't like the Tierra Blanca stretch because there are way too many accidents and hit and runs. Tuxtepec to Oaxaca is better, you can access it via Tlacotalpan instead of Tierra Blanca and it is a nicer ride.

I avoid Tierra Blanca more for the traffic incidents, but I avoided Martinez de la Torre for a few months when things were hot up there. Now, I've been there 3 times in the last 3 weeks because they've cleaned out most of the problems.

Again, local citizen or local rider info will trump Borderland Beat or any other slow news gathering agency (relatively speaking). Though, to be fair to Borderland Beat, they don't really specialize in all of Mexico. Notimex will get you that. I never read Borderland Beat because it is too slow in reporting things. I think of it as the Guia Roji of news agencies. It is popular with some people because it is in English.

Thanks, Miguelito, for the info.
Are you referring to the road between H. del Parral and Creel that looks like it continues on from the end of Mex20?
Is there a RR or vid of that route? And is that the one in the news lately with the roadblock? Still waiting on the arrival of some better maps. I find Google maps tough for planning as there's little detail until you are zoomed in so far there is no sense of scale.

Click to expand...

Not sure, but the road block took place about 20 miles or so from Guachochi. I'm assuming the women from Cuahtemoc were traveling south to Parral then west to Guachochi. If they went another way, it would involve taking their new Jetta on a lot of dirt roads. There was a gunfight around Guadalupe y Calvo, (west of parral on rt.24), not long ago and the area is definitely under the influence of cartel(s). I've ridden around those parts in the past few years with no problem. YMMV. My guess, is that since this incident, there is more of a police presence in the area, and it would not be as dangerous to travel there at present, but I'm just guessing really. I would definitely not be riding around after dark here, or just about anywhere in Mexico if for no other reason than the surplus of livestock on the roads. If you had more time, I'd recommend coming down further south and exploring the Sierra Gorda.

People are paying attention to that norteno highway murder, but nobody paid any attention to the entire family that was shot and killed south of Veracruz, not far from Tuxtapec that happened just a short while after one rider on this forum passed through there.

MikeMike, are you talking about me? I left Tuxtapec on the 19th, shooting was on the 20th. I seem to be hitting the hot spots this trip - the Creel-Guanchochi road a week before the roadblock and murders there, then just missed out taking this route (from Miguelito "There was a gunfight around Guadalupe y Calvo, (west of parral on rt.24), not long ago and the area is definitely under the influence of cartel(s).") after an old guy at the OXXO, said "solo, no". Now Tuxtepec. And yet I haven't had a moment when I didn't feel safe. Lucky, stupid, or is there really not much the average rider needs to worry about? The way I look at it, your luck might run out one day, but that can happen anywhere anytime...

Oh and PS - this from the Google Translate version;
several shots at Tsuru that was located at the height of the congregation of San Antonio Texas Veracruz.

I nearly stopped there to take a pic of the town name, thought San Antonio Texas was kind of a weird name for a town in Mexico...

The parking area shown on the left is the upper parking area which I've always called the main parking area. It is the parking location closest to the ruins. There is a lower parking area which will bring you in the "back" way to the main plaza, which involves an uphill hike all the way. I recommend the upper parking area which will bring you to the "main" entrance portal to the grand plaza.

Ester is usually to be located selling her artesanias behind The Palace. The dotted blue line is the suggested route from the main (upper) parking lot, past the Temple of the Inscriptions, around The Palace, to the area where you should find her. That spot is depicted by the red circle.

Give me an idea of when you'll be at Palenque and I'll let her know to be on the lookout for you. I'll also verify with her the spot you should find her.

Here is a photo of The Palace with a red arrow pointing behind it to the location I would expect you to find her, and the blue dotted line from the upper parking area. Once you arrive between at the spot between the Temple of the Inscriptions and the The Palace, you'll have to have a pretty good idea of what she looks like, as there are a lot of folks selling artesanias.